


No Place Like Home For The Holidays

by ArgyleMN



Series: Seth Levine/Jessica Parker - Canon Universe One Shots [2]
Category: Red Carpet Diaries (Visual Novel)
Genre: Domestic Fluff, F/M, Family Fluff, Slice of Life
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-19
Updated: 2020-06-19
Packaged: 2021-03-04 07:14:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,905
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24799786
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ArgyleMN/pseuds/ArgyleMN
Summary: Seth has interviewed for a wide variety of jobs, but he has never had to answer as many questions for any of them as he did when he first met Jessica’s extended family. Set between Red Carpet Diaries books 2 and 3.
Relationships: Seth Levine/Main Character (Red Carpet Diaries)
Series: Seth Levine/Jessica Parker - Canon Universe One Shots [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1769938
Kudos: 1





	No Place Like Home For The Holidays

“You ready for this, Ohio?” 

“As I’ll ever be.” 

“Come on, it can’t be worse than Yom Kippur.” Jessica pushed open the wreath-adorned door, and they immediately were swarmed by three dogs, four young children, and one woman wearing an apron. 

“Jessica! Jessica!” shrieked the largest of the children, clinging onto her legs when she reached her. The two littlest children nearly wiped out Seth as they dodged past his legs, laughing. As he jumped to the side to avoid a collision, he nearly fell over as two of the dogs raced circles around them, while the third jumped up at Jessica, barking excitedly. 

“Rufus, down boy!” yelled the woman before going in to hug Jessica. Seth looked around the room, taking in the garland across the stairwell railing, the poinsettias on the card table, and the pile of coats spread across the couch with a cat nestled in the middle. He looked down and saw a very blond boy that was now hiding behind the woman’s leg, staring right at Seth. He gave the boy what he thought was a friendly smile, but the boy blushed and ducked further behind the woman’s leg. 

“You must be Seth. I’m Marnie, Jessica’s aunt. Welcome to the circus of Parker family holidays.” Seth’s eyes snapped up, locking with the woman who he now noticed had a smudge of flour on her right cheek. He stuck out his hand to shake hers, but was instead pulled into a loose hug. “Everyone’s in the great room. I’m just finishing up a cake, but I’ll join you in there in a second.” With that, she was off, taking the blond boy with her, still clinging to her leg. Two of the dogs followed her, but the most excited of the dogs kept nuzzling at Jessica’s hand. 

“Who’s he?” asked the last remaining of the children as she grabbed Jessica’s hand and tugged her down the hallway. 

Jessica turned her head to him and tilted it, so he followed along. “He’s my friend, Seth.” 

“Is he your _boyfriend_?” 

“Yes, he is.” 

“Do you kiss him?” 

“Sometimes.” 

“EWWWW!” The girl stopped in her tracks, pony tail whipping as she turned towards Seth.

He crouched down to look her in the eye. “What’s your name?”

“I’m Harper. I like your hair.” 

“Thank you! I like your hair bow, too.” 

“Thanks, my daddy did it. He was supposed to braid my hair, but he’s really bad at it, so I just told him to do a pony tail. How old are you?” 

“I’m 29. How old are you?” 

“I just turned 7. Do you like being Jessica’s boyfriend?” 

“It has its benefits.” He heard Jessica attempting to hold back a laugh, but Seth kept his eyes on Harper. He was determined to get this kid to like him. 

“I had a boyfriend, but I didn’t really like him, so he’s not my boyfriend anymore and we don’t talk at recess now. Do you want to stop being Jessica’s boyfriend?” 

“No, I rather like her, so I think I’ll keep being her boyfriend. Does that sound okay to you?”

Harper shrugged, grabbed his right hand, and continued down the hallway. “Come on and meet my daddy and brother.” 

Ninety minutes later, Seth was settled in on the floor in the den, learning a clapping game from Harper and her cousin, Nikki, while Harper’s brother, Aiden, sat on his shoulders, playing with his hair. He may have only won over Jessica’s cousins’ children, but he figured keeping some of the kids amused and out of their parent’s hair was at least a little bit useful. 

“Why aren’t you with your parents for Christmas?” asked Nikki. 

“I’m Jewish, so my family doesn’t really celebrate Christmas like you guys.” 

“You don’t celebrate Christmas? That’s stupid,” said Harper, “You get a bunch of presents for Christmas.” 

“Yeah!” yelled Aiden, “Santa brings you all the toys you want. You should try Christmas.” 

“Well, I get presents for Hanukkah.”

“But does Santa bring them?” asked Harper, raising her eyebrows like she had just laid out the most foolproof argument. 

“Kids, come get washed up before dinner and help me set the table!” yelled Marnie from the kitchen, saving Seth from answering. The three kids scampered into the kitchen, leaving Seth alone in the den. He figured he better go join the rest of the adults. As he returned to the great room, he ran into Jessica’s grandfather coming out of the bathroom. 

“Seth, right?” 

“Yes, sir. It’s nice to meet you, Mr. Parker.” 

“Please, call me George. So what do you do for a living?” 

“I am a stand up comic.” 

“Really? Can you tell me a joke?” 

“Don’t put him on the spot like that, Grandpa,” interrupted Jessica’s only single cousin, Luke, as they settled in on the couch. 

“Lot of money in stand up?” said a middle aged man with salt and pepper hair who Seth thought was Jessica’s Uncle Tim. 

“I also work as a script doctor and a screenplay writer.” 

“Ahhh, multiple jobs, at least you seem to have a good work ethic. So many kids in your generation just expect hand outs.” 

“Dad, don’t start,” said Luke. 

“What, it’s just an observation. So Seth, are you able to treat Jessica, or does she have to pay for dates?”

“You don’t have to answer that,” said Luke, “My father is stuck in the 1950s in spite of being born in the 60s. Why don’t you tell us about the movies you’ve written for instead. Would I have seen any of them?” 

“Well, I wrote quite a bit of Jessica’s movie, _Tender Nothings_.” 

“Is that how you two met?” asked Laura, Luke’s sister, as she entered the great room, carrying another one of the children on her hip. 

“No, we were neighbors when she first moved out to LA.” 

“Did she have to get you the job on _Tender Nothings_?” snapped Tim. 

“No, I actually surprised her on set my first day.” 

“So, you’ve been dating Jessica for over a year and we’re just now meeting you?” asked George. 

“Er- sort of.” 

“What do you mean ‘sort of’? I may be old, but my memory isn’t so bad that I forgot meeting you.” 

“Grandpa, I’m guessing that things might have been more casual between Seth and Jessica back then,” said Laura. 

Seth shot Jessica’s cousin a grateful look, hearing a strangled scoff coming from Tim. However, he was shocked when George replied, “Tim, give the boy a break. It’s not like I didn’t catch you sneaking Mary Harper out of your bedroom after the senior bonfire. Seth, pay no mind to my son.” 

Before Seth could respond, Marnie entered the room. “Dinner’s ready. Let’s head into the dining room to say grace.” 

Seth got up to follow, but was quickly intercepted by Jessica’s mother. “Dear, I’m sorry if this makes you uncomfortable. Do you want to step out while we pray? No one would mind.” 

“Julie, thank you for your concern, but it’s totally fine.” 

“Okay, if you’re sure. Oh, and I got a menorah that we can light tonight back at our house. Does that sound good?”

“Actually, Hanukkah ended a couple of weeks ago.”

“Dear, are you sure? You don’t feel like you have to hide your faith from us, do you?”

Regardless of Seth’s assurances that he was not missing Hanukkah and insistence that he had never kept Kosher, so she didn’t need to worry, Julie stayed by his side throughout the buffet line. 

“This dish has cheese. I had Marnie make some roast beef in addition to ham. Are you sure this food is okay for you?” Soon enough, they joined Jessica at the card table in the living room. 

“Long time, no see.” 

“Sorry, I had to help Aunt Marnie with the veggies. Hopefully my family hasn’t been too insane.” 

“No, just the right amount of insane.” 

“Glad to hear it,” said her cousin, Becky as she took the seat next to Seth, “Nikki said you were cool, which you should know is high praise.” 

“Yes, thank you for entertaining our child,” chimed in her husband, Robert. 

“You really were great with the kids, Seth,” added Jessica’s father as he sat down next to his wife, “You two given any thought to giving us some grandchildren?” Jessica choked on her wine, and Seth froze with his fork hovering over his plate. 

“Dad!” Jessica coughed. 

“What dear, you are our only ticket to grandbabies. Can you really blame us for wondering?” asked her mother. As Jessica dropped her voice to chat with her parents, Becky leaned into towards Seth. 

“Sorry to keep you from answering their uncomfortable questions, but I have one of my own, if you don’t mind.” 

“Well, how can I say no to that?” 

“So, you’re bi, right?” 

“Uhh, yeah. Where is this going?” 

“Oh, it’s nothing like that! When did you know?” 

“I don’t know if anyone ever told you, but this is kind of an intimate conversation to have with your cousin’s boyfriend the first time you’re meeting him. Generally, I would recommend saving it for somewhere around the third meeting,” he joked, trying to break the awkwardness. 

“I’m sorry, but we don’t know who else to ask.” Robert leaned across the table, “We think Nikki might be a lesbian.” 

“And we just want to know how to handle things if she is and does come out to us. Any things we should avoid? Anything your parents said that were the wrong thing to say?” 

Seth’s eyes widened as he let out a big sigh. “Sorry,” said Robert, shaking his head. 

“Yeah, bet you’re wishing you had stayed with the grandkids conversation, aren’t you?” 

Seth smiled as the three of them turned to focus on the conversation happening at the other end of the card table. 

“Mom, give it a rest. We aren’t even engaged!” 

“But dear, all I’m saying is-” 

“Nah, this is still preferable, but just barely.” 

“Good to hear,” laughed Robert. 

“Lemme get a stiffer drink if we are going to do this. Just one question, did you guys plan to sit by me to have this talk?” 

“Guilty,” admitted Becky, biting her lower lip. Seth got up to grab some whiskey, shaking his head and wondering how many more uncomfortable topics the Parkers could find to ask him about before this night was over. 

The dishes were washed, and everyone was sorting through coats as they were getting dressed to head to Christmas Eve church when Julie pulled Seth and Jessica into the den. “I have a question for you two.” Seth braced himself for the worst. 

“Do you guys want the keys to home? It’s been a long day, plus you are dealing with the time change. Would you like to skip church and just settle in?” 

Seth didn’t think he had ever loved Jessica more than that moment as she answered “Yes, please,” grabbed the keys, and walked straight towards the rental car. As they climbed in, and he followed the GPS directions towards her parent’s home, he couldn’t help but chuckle as Jessica said, “How did you put up with my entire family?” 

“How could I not put up with them? They’re your family, not something to tolerate,” he replied, “I love you. They love you. No matter what, that’s our common ground.” It was the easiest question he answered all night.


End file.
